


looking vulnerable again

by sandpapersnowman



Category: Kingsman (Movies)
Genre: Caretaking, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, lowkey u kno
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-22
Updated: 2017-10-22
Packaged: 2019-01-21 04:17:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12449514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sandpapersnowman/pseuds/sandpapersnowman
Summary: The party went smoothly, even if it dragged itself out; Eggsy's exhausted by the time he gets in the cab to head back to headquarters.





	looking vulnerable again

**Author's Note:**

> title from marina & the diamonds' Obsessions

"Hey, Merlin?"

Eggsy's pretty voice comes through his headset, too-sweet like he's about to say something rude or ask him something he shouldn't be asking.

"What's up, Galahad?"

They're post-mission, so the codename isn't _necessary_ , probably, but he likes to stay safe. He's only on Eggsy's stream because he's coming home from a reconnaissance mission and he'd said he was worried about a potential tail, so Merlin stayed on.

"Could you stay on with me until I get back?" he asks. “Feeling kind of paranoid, it might help knowing I've got you with me."

There's a tone in his voice that Merlin's not sure he's ever heard -- something kind of shy. Dishonest, even; Eggsy's not much for paranoia, and he knows Merlin would only be a shout away if something _did_ happen. But, if he'd just like to have company for a while, need it or not, Merlin will be there for him.

"Of course."

"Are you sure?" he asks. "You don't need to if it's inconvenient."

"Nonsense," he says. "I don't have anything else planned tonight." He yawns. He'd kind of planned on some sleep, actually, but that can always wait. "I'm your handler. If you need me, you need me."

Eggsy sighs on the other end.

"Yeah, I need you."

Eggsy yawns too -- either caught from Merlin or just because it's almost 4 in the morning and neither of them have slept since the day before.

"Why don't you take a nap?" Merlin suggests. He may as well, with a Kingsman driver in an armored cab, when there may or may not even be people following. "I'll wake you up if there's anything suspicious."

The view from the glasses shifts in a way that Merlin's learned to recognize as someone nodding, and then he's leaning his head against his window.

"You take good care of me, Merlin," he mutters.

Merlin just smiles. Of course he does, he's the best handler Kingsman has ever had.

Eggsy does indeed fall asleep before he makes it back to the shop for upload, but Merlin can't find it in him to wake him up when he can hear his breath so steady and soft.

He transmits _don't disturb him, I'll get him_ to the driver's display up front, and pulls on a jacket before he heads up. It's not quite cold enough to break out the thicker layers, not _yet_ , but cold enough it'll be uncomfortable to retrieve him without something extra unless Eggsy has woken up by the time he gets there.

And, he thinks, but would never admit, he knows Eggsy is only wearing his suit jacket and the shirt underneath it; if he needs a jacket, it may as well be the one that he's warming up as he takes the elevator.

Eggsy's groggy and half-conscious, but not tired enough that Merlin's got to carry him. Prop him up, sure, put an arm around his waist to keep him upright, yeah, but not fully carry him.

"Thank you," Eggsy mumbles, even as he's being dumped into a chair pretty un-nicely.

"Of course," Merlin says again. "You still need to upload, but we can do it in the morning, if you'd like."

Eggsy either nods or disguises himself rubbing his face into the chair as nodding, one or the other.

"Would you like some water?"

Eggsy does the same thing again, forcing his eyes open just a bit to find Merlin in the room and smile at him.

There's the briefest thought of just how nice he looks -- slouching in a big, comfortable chair, rubbing his face into the fabric like a tired child, smiling up at him like Merlin means the _world_ when all he's done is help him into a less-uncomfortable place to crash, and _God_ , having the nerve to look so vulnerable and open while still wearing a suit that makes him look like a _scalpel_ , sharp and pristine and _precise_.

He'll have to set up somewhere for him to sleep in the shop overnight, probably; he's too bonelessly tired to make it back into a cab and then back to wherever he's staying.

He brings him water, even though Eggsy is asleep again by the time he's back.

He takes his glasses off of him gently. Maybe it's a little too fond, but he brushes his hair back, too, so the loose strands that are out of place from a full day of making appearances and performing espionage don't tickle his face and wake him again.

He figures he may as well go over his upload for the night, too, since he's still up.

There's nothing new that he didn't notice while Eggsy was on the mission earlier; he cuts out the parts where Eggsy goes to the bathroom and the quiet snoring in the car, but there's a blip of audio from just before Merlin took the glasses an turned them off that catches his eye.

Visual is nothing, just Eggsy in the room he's still crashed in. He starts a few seconds before the blip for context, and sure enough, he watches himself walk out to get Eggsy water.

There's another sigh from Eggsy, something happy and content, and then there's the blip -- Eggsy, talking to himself.

"I'm gonna pay you back for everything you do for me, okay? Dunno when, but I'm gonna, Merlin."

Merlin smiles to himself.

Eggsy is an incredible spy, an absolute gentleman, and one of the best Kingsman recruits they've had since Harry himself joined, and he wants to somehow repay _Merlin_ for doing his job as a handler.

He takes the blip off the case recording, but moves it into another folder, one usually reserved for embarrassing material to get on other knights' nerves about.

Eggsy might not even remember in the morning, but that's fine.

Merlin's just doing his job, after all.


End file.
